Trading Standards Scotland, Police Scotland and the City of London’s Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) have joined forces to target a major illegal distributor of premium TV content. The distributor, based in the West of Scotland, is believed to have provided illegal access to premium TV, sports and movie content to dozens of separate […]
Cinema chain Cineworld has announced that it will be closing all of its 663 cinemas – 127 of which are in the UK, and 536 in the US – from October 8th. The decision puts some 45,000 jobs in limbo. The news came on the back of the latest James Bond movie, titled No Time […]
Charlie Ergen has filed documents with the US Securities & Exchange Commission to create a public company called Conx. Ergen is using Conx as a SPAC (a Special Purpose Acquisition Company) as the shell vehicle for his move. Conx is offering 100 million shares (and possibly up to 115 million) at $10 each as part […]
French media company Canal+ has taken a 6.5 per cent stake in South Africa-based pay-TV provider Multichoice. Canal+ said that the move was a long-term financial investment a testament to the confidence that Vivendi has in MultiChoice and the African continent. Canal+ is owned by Vivendi, which is also the owner of Universal Music Group […]
Comtech Telecommunications and Gilat Satellite Networks have agreed to terminate the merger agreement first announced on January 29th 2020 and have settled all pending litigation in the Delaware Court of Chancery. In connection with the termination and settlement agreement, Comtech has agreed to make a payment of $70 million to Gilat. The merger termination and […]
Abu Dhabi Police have arrested three people and raided several shops as part of a concerted effort against TV piracy, following a complaint from pay-TV operator OSN. “Piracy is causing enormous losses for the entertainment industry, the authorities and the end users,” declared Hanif Khan, director of anti-piracy and content security at OSN, who noted […]
The 5G spectrum auction by French telecom regulatory body Arcep has seen French operators spend €2.78 billion. Orange has won the highest quantity among the eleven 10MHz lots of 5G frequencies in the GHz 3.4-3.8 band, paying €854 million. Its total range of frequencies, (including previous allocations) total 257MHz, the largest on the market. SFR […]
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has, as expected, proposed freeing up more mid-band spectrum for use by 5G operators in the US. Currently the frequencies (3.45-3.55 GHz) is primarily used by the US military and the US Department of Defense (DoD). The DoD used the spectrum for radar systems amongst other communications needs on fixed, […]
FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has confirmed that he will step down from his role when his term is up, and has made clear that he is not seeking any support in staying in the job. His time is up either in January or should a replacement be appointed, whichever is the sooner. O’Rielly is a […]
The UK House of Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee is urging the Government to ensure that the process to appoint the next Chair of the BBC and Chair of Ofcom is “fair and seen to be fair”. It follows media speculation that potential names for the roles had been promoted by senior members […]